A guide to the CA-36 special election Tuesday

A machine Democrat faces a surprise tea party challenger for a House seat in California Tuesday. Zombie, of Pajamas Media, has put together all the information you need to know about the race. A sample:

Front-runner Janice Hahn, a Democratic city councilmember in Los Angeles, is facing off against upstart newcomer Craig Huey, a small business owner nominally on the Republican ticket but hewing closely to Tea Party and libertarian platforms.

Hahn and Huey emerged as the two top vote-getters in a hotly contested primary election that featured no fewer than 16 candidates vying for a chance to face off in the general election. Hahn was expected to finish near the top, but she was supposed to be joined by her main rival, fellow Democrat Debra Bowen; instead, a brutal primary campaign damaged Bowen just enough to allow a surprise come-from-behind second-place finish by populist outsider Craig Huey.

As expected, Hahn is now leading Huey in the heavily Democratic district, but by not nearly as much as she should be. Hahn claims a 9-percentage-point lead; Huey claims he's within striking distance at around 2 or 3 points behind; the only poll released so far had Hahn up by a mere 5 points - just within the margin of error.

The most encouraging factor is that special elections are low turnout affairs, and tea partiers tend to be more highly motivated than rank and file Democrats. Enough doubts have been raised about Hahn that her turnout efforts may not be entirely successful.

Hat tip: Instapundit

A machine Democrat faces a surprise tea party challenger for a House seat in California Tuesday. Zombie, of Pajamas Media, has put together all the information you need to know about the race. A sample:

Front-runner Janice Hahn, a Democratic city councilmember in Los Angeles, is facing off against upstart newcomer Craig Huey, a small business owner nominally on the Republican ticket but hewing closely to Tea Party and libertarian platforms.

Hahn and Huey emerged as the two top vote-getters in a hotly contested primary election that featured no fewer than 16 candidates vying for a chance to face off in the general election. Hahn was expected to finish near the top, but she was supposed to be joined by her main rival, fellow Democrat Debra Bowen; instead, a brutal primary campaign damaged Bowen just enough to allow a surprise come-from-behind second-place finish by populist outsider Craig Huey.

As expected, Hahn is now leading Huey in the heavily Democratic district, but by not nearly as much as she should be. Hahn claims a 9-percentage-point lead; Huey claims he's within striking distance at around 2 or 3 points behind; the only poll released so far had Hahn up by a mere 5 points - just within the margin of error.

The most encouraging factor is that special elections are low turnout affairs, and tea partiers tend to be more highly motivated than rank and file Democrats. Enough doubts have been raised about Hahn that her turnout efforts may not be entirely successful.